Smashing Pumpkins

A Sauvie Island feud over Halloween profits.

For decades, cars filled with parents and children in
search of Halloween pumpkins have streamed out U.S. 30 to Sauvie Island.
And one island farm has dominated the business: the Pumpkin Patch, run
by the Egger family since 1971.

The farm on Northwest
Gillihan Road draws thousands on sunny October weekends. Other Sauvie
Island farmers haven’t been able to match the success of the Eggers’
business.

But
now there’s a war on the island over a copycat pumpkin interloper who
locals say has used unethical tactics to steal the Eggers’ customers.

The feud involves the
county sheriff, reports of theft and vandalism, obscenities shouted
from cars, and one of the new business’s managers admitting he tore down
signs to the Eggers’ patch.

The new business, the
Portland Pumpkin Farm at Bella Organic, is owned by Mike Hashem. It’s
been accused of stopping cars on their way to the Pumpkin Patch and
diverting customers with free passes to its corn maze.

“His tactics are low level,” said Don Kruger, owner of a neighboring farm. “If he was doing that to me, I’d be outraged.”

His son-in-law
dismisses complaints about the Portland Pumpkin Farm making itself look
like the Pumpkin Patch. “They have pumpkins, we have pumpkins,” says
Johnny Kondilis. “They have hay rides, we have hay rides.”

The Multnomah County
Sheriff’s Office got a call Oct. 8 from the Eggers complaining a Bella
employee was waving a stop sign on Gillihan Road. A Pumpkin Patch
employee took photos.

A sheriff’s report
says Hashem swore at the Pumpkin Patch employee and said he was going to
“bury him on the property.” Hashem tells WW he thought the employee’s camera was a gun and admits he had “some choice words” for him.

Hashem has already
caused controversy on the insular island over plans to turn Big Island
Marina into a wedding venue that locals feared would increase traffic
congestion.

He says he’s had a truck stolen and seen his farm’s signs vandalized since the pumpkin controversy started this month.

The
Eggers, who are still doing big business this year, say they were once
close to Hashem—even going on a family vacation together—and are
surprised by the way he’s competing with them.

Some
locals are yelling and flipping off Hashem’s employees as they drive
by—something the Pumpkin Patch’s Bob Egger doesn’t condone. “He started
a business that puts a public face on his farm, giving people something
to yell at,” he says.

“We’re patrolling
regularly to keep the peace,” says Capt. Jason Gates of the sheriff’s
office, which is paying deputies overtime to deal with the situation.
“They need to work it out.”

Hashem agrees. “[The sheriff] has more important things to do,” he says, “than be pumpkin police.”

NOTE: This story has been edited after publication to correct the name of the family that owns the Pumpkin Patch. The name is Egger, not Eggers.